Rock Climbing

My friends and I went rock climbing during the summer and it was the highlight of the entire summer for me. At the start, I thought to myself, what’s the big deal about climbing a bunch of rocks. I never realized that it could turn out to be such a satisfying experience.

My friends say that there are several kinds of climbing ranging from recreational climbing to adventurous and sport climbing. All of them involve the use of one’s hands and feet to move up a steep object. I suppose rock climbing started from the pursuit of mountaineering since they both involve climbing up a steep rocky surface wit the use of ropes and other climbing equipment and protective gear.
After reading up on the topic, I discovered that there are two basic types of rock climbing. These are free climbing, which involves the use of ropes and other gear strictly for safety purposes in case you fall, and aid climbing, which involves using equipment to create a passage on a piece of rock in order to be able to move forward.

History tells us that man has been climbing up mountains strictly for recreational purposes since the 16th century. Previously, mountain climbers did not use a rope and this became a regular practice in climbing only in the middle of the 17th century. At that time, mountain climbers usually employed professional guides to help them in their journey. The role at the time was that the leader (the guy who climbs up the rope first) must not fall. The practice of threading ropes through iron safety rings embedded into the rock began in the early 1900s.

There are several types of climbing. These include Traditional climbing (or “Trad climbing” which uses removable and fixed protection); Sport climbing (involves the use of pre-placed bolts for protection); Bouldering (climbing small rocks without a rope); Aid climbing (using equipment to climb instead of hands and feet); Ice climbing (traditional climbing on ice-covered slopes or frozen waterfalls), Top rope climbing (having a safety line that is always above the climber); Indoor climbing (involves bouldering, top roping, and lead climbing); Alpine climbing (involves rock and ice climbing as a part of mountaineering); Free solo climbing (solitary climbing on exposed rock without protective gear) and Roped solo climbing (solitary climbing using ropes).